Live updates on Russia-Ukraine conflict

File photo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his military command to put nuclear-armed forces on high alert as Ukrainian fighters defending the city of Kharkiv said they had repelled an attack by invading Russian troops.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that "President Putin is continuing to escalate this war in a manner that is totally unacceptable and we have to continue to stem his actions in the strongest possible way".

On the fourth day of the biggest assault on a European state since World War II, the Ukrainian president's office said negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow would be held at the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. They would meet without preconditions, it said.

Thousands of Ukrainian civilians, mainly women and children, were fleeing from the Russian assault into neighbouring countries.

The capital Kyiv was still in Ukrainian government hands, with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rallying his people despite Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure.

But Putin, who has described the invasion as a "special military operation", thrust an alarming new element into play on Sunday when he ordered Russia's deterrence forces - a reference to units which include nuclear arms - onto high alert.

He cited aggressive statements by NATO leaders and economic sanctions imposed by the West against Moscow.

"As you can see, not only do Western countries take unfriendly measures against our country in the economic dimension - I mean the illegal sanctions that everyone knows about very well - but also the top officials of leading NATO countries allow themselves to make aggressive statements with regards to our country," Putin said on state television.

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1 comment

Is Putin unhinged?

Posted on 28-02-2022 12:44 | By morepork

Maybe the isolation and stress have affected his judgement. Authorizing use of nuclear weapons (if he did, in fact, do that) is simply not a rational move. Maybe he is so disillusioned by the world response he has decided to take us all down...? I'm an optimist and I believe that reason will prevail, (because if it doesn't, the Human Race is over) but this kind of talk gives cause for concern. Watching the tragedy in Ukraine unfolding is heart-rending. The sooner they stop the war and sit down and talk, the better.


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